Damn Dress: A Love Story Ch. 05

The car ride on the way home from the Veterans Ball was a quiet one for Jackson and Chris. Neither one knew what to say to the other. Chris stared out the window and Jackson kept his eyes on the road.

Jackson remembered the first day he had seen Brandon. Tall, lanky kid who literally got off the bus with a scruffy bag on one shoulder and a huge chip on the other. Jackson couldn't figure him out. He had volunteered, yet he acted like being there was something he didn't want to do.

Jackson believed that is what initially intrigued him about the young man. He looked over Brandon's files. Born and raised in Boston, father unknown, mother gave birth rights over to her sister and her husband when he was six. He had a few hospital records. Broken arm, bruises, stab wound to the left shoulder. Jesus, this kid had been through quite a bit.

So instead of going the old "hard ass" Lieutenant route, Jackson was nice yet stern with Brandon. It seemed to break down a few walls this kid had up that no one else could get through.

Jackson had never had a son, and figured if he had, his would have been very different than Brandon, but there was something about this kid that touched him. And he was so serious all the time, but when he smiled, it would make whoever was around want to smile too. Why the hell had everything gone so wrong?

When Jackson and Chris reached the house, Chris turned to him and asked, "Do you want me to go look for her?"

Jackson sighed and shook his head 'no'. "She's with him. And he can get out of control sometimes. I wouldn't want anything to happen," he said, exiting the car.

This was killing Chris. He wanted to go find her. He didn't want her being hurt. He had seen how she crumpled to the floor when he had taken the phone away from her at the hair salon, and how devastated she had looked when she saw Brandon earlier tonight with another woman.

When they entered the house, Jackson walked into his study and shut the door. He sat down and put his head into his hands. He just wanted everything to stop. Or for things to go back to a more comfortable time. When Sienna was a young girl, and Brandon was a young hot headed kid who would listen to his every word.

Why couldn't he turn back the hands of time to those days? Before shit got so complicated.

But there was something else plaguing Jackson. He had tried to block it out, but he had heard Brandon say it loud and clear. 'You don't want me as a part of your family anymore, huh?! Well, I just might be in nine months, motherfucker!'

Jesus, all of this was happening way too fast. Sienna had just delivered a massive string of tantrums because he threatened to pull her tuition, yet obviously, unless Brandon was bluffing, she might not even be going to school due to other complications. He was so confused. He couldn't think about that anymore.

But deep down Jackson had to face what he feared the most. Why he objected to Sienna and Brandon's relationship. In Sienna, he saw his ex-wife. Someone who made impulsive decisions without thinking and ruined their family. Over his dead body, would be the only way Sienna would follow that path.

***********************

"Screw your stupid ass friend!" April hollered across the crowded bar to Terry.

"Honey, in this crowd, you're going to have to be a little more specific," he laughed in her direction, while taking another sip of his beer. He had a lousy time at the veterans ball, and stopping at the usual dingy bar seemed like a welcome change to the stiffs he was forced to be with earlier that night.

April staggered over to him, obviously drunk out of her mind. She tried to lean against the counter but fell more on Terry than her intended target.

Terry gazed down at April's sweaty smiling face. She was a pretty woman. Well, when her hair wasn't matted and her eyes weren't blood shot red from drinking.

"So what's new, April?" Terry asked, taking another sip.

"I hate BT. He's such a piece of shit!" she slurred, while almost slipping off the counter again.

"What has captain crazy done to you now?" Terry inquired, turning back to nurse his beer, completely uninterested. Nothing April ever said was worth anyone's time. Now if she took her top off and told him, maybe he'd be a little more enthusiastic to hear.

"I can't believe, he is--he is, um, so fucking stupid. He kicked me out of his house for--for that young black bitch! Ain't she related to someone high up or somethin'. Little slut," she slurred, eyes half closed.

"What are you talking about?" Terry turned to her a little more interested since he believed that it was Sienna she was referring to.

"She shows up at his doorstep (hiccup), no doubt a few minutes too early for their little(hiccup)--little, whatever the fuck they have. I think it was her birthday. Yeah, eighteenth. Anyway, after that asshole fucks me, he picks her up and walks her back to his room and kicks me out!!" she yelled.

Terry's mind started rotating and plotting. He remembered all those years ago when he first met Brandon Temple. Immediately, he didn't like him. He just seemed too fucking cool and crazy. That kind of guy you wish you could be if you weren't scared of consequences. Terry knew it was probably jealousy that coursed through his veins, but he didn't care.

And for some reason, girls seemed to love BT. They would flock to him in any bar, in any country they traveled to. He'd act so uninterested in them, but their panties seemed to drop. Clever, how that worked.

But most of all, Terry hated the way the Commander seemed to love everything about Brandon. He'd seen BT fly off the handle more times than he could count due to his temper, but Commander Branson was always there to back him up.

Once they were on a mission, and they had been given direct orders not to get involved in any civilian warfare. They were there for a specific reason, and they had to get out once their mission was complete.

They had come across two men who were beating this young female and ripping her clothes off. Terry wasn't going to lie, it was hard to watch, but that wasn't a part of their mission. Commander Branson told them not to engage.

But out of the corner of Terry's eye, he saw Brandon raise his gun slightly and pulled the trigger twice. In an instant, both of the men's brains exploded onto the back of the wall and the young girl took off running and screaming.

Commander Branson had seen it too, but when they got back to base for their debriefing, Brandon got away scott free. That had bothered Terry. A lot. He figured if another man had done it, the Commander would have had his ass for disobeying a direct order. But BT was special for some fucking reason. He truly resented that.

And it wasn't just those moments. Terry recalled another time when he had been flirting with this hot little waitress at a local bar. He was checking his jeans to make sure he had a condom, when he saw BT walk up to her, whisper something in her ear, and the girl followed him out. Terry was literally standing there with the world's hardest hard on watching Brandon score with the woman of his dreams. Or at least the woman for that night.

Oh yes, that happened more times than he wanted to admit. Including with Terry's own on and off again girlfriend, Alice. She had wanted BT, but settled for him instead. But he still believed that Brandon had fucked Alice. He couldn't prove it, but she seemed to get flustered whenever she saw BT or when Terry mentioned his name. Slut probably did, now that he thought about it.

He wished he could just grow some balls and confront BT, but that was easier said than done. BT was an intimidating guy. When you call his name, and he turns to you, nailing you with his glare, you forget what the fuck you were going to say. So Terry never got up the nerve, and BT thought the two of them were friends, so probably better left unsaid.

Maybe they were friends, but Terry wanted for once, Brandon to get what should have come to him a long time ago. Payback was definitely a bitch.

"So, you sure this was the day of her eighteenth birthday? Could it have been earlier?" Terry asked, bringing his wandering mind back to the present and April's long, rambling story.

He looked down at her, and she was asleep on his shoulder and drooling. He quickly nudged her off. "Wake the fuck up."

"Hey, what the hell?" April yelled, almost tipping over.

"Could it have been before her eighteenth birthday?" he asked again.

"Um, no, I don't think so. I don't know, I was kinda out of it, you know. No, it was definitely her birthday. Or someone's birthday," April answered, scrunching her nose up trying to remember.

"But it COULD have been earlier, right? I mean, did the two of them seem to already have a relationship? Did he sleep with her that night?" Terry prodded on.

April just stared at him as if she didn't understand the question.

Terry continued, " I mean, you said he picked her up against her will and drug her into his bedroom and slammed the door, right?"

April furrowed her brow. "Um, did I say that? I don't think she didn't want him to though. I don't think anyway." April was officially confused at this point.

"But she could have said no though, right? And it MIGHT have been before her birthday. I mean, if she's coming to his place in the middle of the night, that was probably more than a one time type of deal, right?" Terry encouraged.

April just stared at him blankly. " I guess so," she said.

Terry also thought about BT fucking Sienna. That made him angry and horny. He had a thing for the Commander's daughter, even when she was underage. He had known that Sienna had a crush on Brandon. Hell, they all did. But Terry wouldn't have minded spending a few nights with her. She just had that thing about her. Like she was wanting it. And Terry was more than willing to give it to her.

Sure, he pretended to be her friend, but mostly he would just stare at her when no one was looking. And a few months ago, he had blocked his number and started dialing her cell phone several times. She would answer and he'd hang up. He knew it was crazy, but he didn't care. It didn't have to make sense. But now that little bitch would pay for driving him crazy all of these years.

The wheels in his head were turning in overdrive. If he could pull this grand scheme off, and remove Brandon from the picture, then maybe Sienna would come running into his arms for a change.

He thought it might not be a bad idea to take poor April to a hotel for a few hours tonight, before he made an early trip to Shore Patrol.

*****************

Officer Silas was sitting at his desk about to pour a shot of bourbon into his early morning coffee when the receptionist said he had a visitor.

"Fuck," he muttered under his breath. He just prayed it wasn't his ex-wife. It was 5:30 am. Way too early in the fucking morning to be dealing with her never-ending array of bullshit.

"It's Terry Winstead, sir," his receptionist yelled from the front.

"Who? Oh, nevermind, send him in," Silas said, while swishing around his 'coffee'.

Terry entered into Silas's office like a man on a mission. This had to work, because if it didn't, this would be his ass on the line.

"Hi, son, come on in," Silas said while putting his feet up on his desk. He noticed Terry was still in his Dress Whites from the Veterans Ball the previous night.

"Thank you, sir," Terry said nervously.

"So, what can I do for you?"

Terry was about to get up and walk out. This was crazy he thought. He wasn't sure if he could go through with it. But then he thought of that prick getting everything he wanted, AND getting Sienna on top of that.

Fuck that. Yes, he could do this.

"Sir, this might come as a shock to you, but I have some pretty damaging information," Terry said.

This piqued Silas's curiosity. Most of his work consisted of drunk naval officers, never anything worth getting out of bed over.

"Shoot," Silas said as he took a sip of his drink.

"Well sir, do you know of Brandon Temple?"

Silas rolled his eyes. Prick. He didn't dislike the kid, but that scene he had pulled in the Commanders yard was unacceptable. And his fucking car window!

"Yeah, I know about him. What's he done this time?"

Terry cleared his throat. "This is hard to say since he's a friend of mine, but I can't hold this in any longer. He has been having a sexual relationship with Commander Branson's daughter, Sienna," Terry quickly said, while shaking his head.

"Well, that's a personal matter between the Commander and Brandon. None of my business."

"Would it be your business if she were only 15 or 16 when it started?" Terry asked.

Silas stared at Terry for a moment. He slowly removed his feet from the desk and sat up straight in his chair. His eyes narrowed at Terry.

"You know, this is a matter for the local police. I mean, we help out when we can, but our main objective is to keep sailors from getting too rowdy. Not something this heavy."

"I know sir, but I kinda wanted to keep it with us, you know. Plus, I know you can use a little discretion, unlike the police," Terry said.

Silas leaned back in his chair. "That's a pretty harsh accusation there, son. You have proof to any of that?" Silas asked.

"Well, I have a witness. She saw Brandon drag Sienna to his room after a party when she was underage," Terry said with disgust.

Silas raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, he's my friend," Terry continued sadly. "But I can't let him get away with hurting such a sweet, innocent girl like Sienna."

"Do you think you could get this witness to come in and recount their story to me?"

"Yes, absolutely. I can send her in now, if you want. She's here with me," Terry added.

Silas nodded his head, "Send her in."

Something seemed really weasley about that kid. He didn't want to say he was lying, but if Brandon was his friend and comrade, he wouldn't have snitched on him.

Silas wasn't sure what was going on, but those allegations were serious enough that he couldn't sweep them under his desk. He had to deal with them. And that meant bringing that prick into his office, and he was sure Brandon wouldn't come in without a fight. Shit.

**********************

Jackson couldn't sleep. He had been tossing and turning all night. He looked at his clock. It read 6:32 am. Damn.

He decided to get up and and go downstairs. He fixed himself a hot cup of coffee. He leaned against the counter about to take a long sip contemplating on his next step to handle this whole Brandon/Sienna situation, when his phone rang.

"Hello?" Jackson said.

"Hi sir, it's Silas over here at Shore Patrol. I have a situation on my hands, but I wanted to run it by you so you'll know what's going on. And sir, I need to tell you now, I can't cover his ass on this one. I have to report it due to the seriousness of the matter. And truthfully, if it all rings true, I'll have to hand this over to the police."

"You have to report what?" Jackson asked, slightly irritated that he was receiving this call so early in the morning.

"Well sir, Brandon has been accused of statutory rape, and sexual assault."

The Commander shook his head for a moment, stunned.

"What?!" he asked

"He was accused by someone with rape of a minor," Silas said cautiously. "And sir, they are claiming that the person he raped was Sienna."

Jackson couldn't say a word.

"Hello? Commander?" he heard Silas say on the line, but he couldn't talk just yet. It can't be true. Someone who knows for sure? Brandon had said that he never touched her until she turned 18. Not that knowing that was comforting. But deep down Jackson had believed him. And now it might have been forced? Oh God, the shit was about to hit the fan. No, break the fucking fan.

The Commander was a good man. He respected all people. And if it were up to him, they would all be out of the job if he could enforce world peace. He believed in all of that corny doves and holding hands stuff. But...if that son of a bitch hurt his baby...especially when she was too young to do anything about it, under his own roof, no holding cell would keep him out and he would rip his fucking balls off and shove them down his throat.

"Commander?" Silas asked again.

Jackson could feel the negative energy flowing through his body. "I'm here. I'll be down there in a few minutes. Is he there now?"

"No sir, but I'm having my men pick him up as we speak. I'll try to keep it with our department as long as possible until I can figure out what the hell is going on, but I may not have long. See you when you get here."

With that, Jackson hung up the phone, grabbed his jacket and walked out.

Chris hadn't been able to sleep either, and when he heard the Commander downstairs, he was about to join him until the phone rang. He wasn't sure what was said, but whatever it was, he didn't think it was good.

Chris ran downstairs and grabbed his keys. He knew the Commander didn't want him to, but he was going to drag Sienna back here, Brandon be damned!

*******************

Brandon was sitting in the small cell area. He was brought in without a shirt, but they supplied him with some ugly brown shirt with numbers on it, but at this point, he really didn't care. He was thinking about the fact that he had actually planned on apologizing to the Commander for his behavior earlier that week. But now...fuck that.

Brandon was trying to think of so many ways to fuck up the Commander's life, it wasn't even funny. He couldn't believe that Commander Branson would stoop so low. To call him a rapist? Oh, his evil mind thought of so much shit. But nothing could fuck with the Commander like his daughter.

If Brandon didn't love Sienna so much and value his career in the Seals, he would have video taped himself fucking her in every way he could, coming in all 3 holes, and send that shit in an email file to the Commander along with his superiors email addresses. Oh yes, he would think of some way to fuck him up. Was it immature? Yes. Did he give a fuck? No.

But he'd never in a million years do that to Sienna. That was his heart and he couldn't stand to see her hurt.

As Brandon was contemplating his master plan, Officer Silas came to his cell.

"Alright son, you're up," he said opening the cell door.

Brandon stretched and walked out. He was so tense, that his back felt like a spring coil. Officer Silas lead him into an interrogation room. Plain, simple white room with bad lighting and a weird mold smell.

"So, we have a dilemma here. Someone is accusing you of rape. Do you know who would do that?"

Brandon continued to stare.

"Well, they are saying you raped Sienna Branson when she was underage. Is that true?"

Still nothing.

"Did you have a sexual relationship with her before she turned 18?"

Silence.

Silas realized he was going to have to go about this another route. He knew Brandon wasn't going to offer anything to him. So, he knew he had to hit a little below the belt to get him to open up.

"Well, you know when we checked you in, we noticed that you had a white lace thong in your pocket. l'm assuming that belongs to her. Bet you've seen many of hers, right? Now the question is...were the panties for a younger girl or older girl?" he said smiling.

Silas saw Brandon's jaw twitch and tighten. He knew he was getting to him.

Then he leaned back in his chair and continued, "I remember this one time, I was on base helping the Commander with a problem, and she came bouncing in. And do mean bouncing." He made the emphasis with his hands rounded and over his chest.